In conventional printing devices capable of performing printing operations in the reverse direction after completion of printing operations in the forward direction, undesirable noise is likely to be generated when the carriage is moved in reverse. Further, in a printing apparatus having a ribbon that is wound on a take-up reel by the movement of the carriage for each printing operation of one line, when the print head is moved from a printing position to a non-printing position, the used part of the print ribbon is not completely wound up due to slack in the print ribbon caused by the ribbon winding mechanism. Thus, the used portion of the print ribbon is likely to be unintentionally reused by the print head, thus causing poor print quality.